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Georgian Orthodox Church to leave WCC and CEC

Ecumenical News International
ENI News Service
26 May 1997

Georgian Orthodox Church to leave WCC and CEC
ENI-97-0213

By Andrei Zolotov

Moscow, 26 May (ENI)The Georgian Orthodox Church in the
former Soviet Republic of Georgia has decided to leave two major
ecumenical bodies - the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the
Conference of European Churches (CEC), both based in Geneva.

The decision was taken at an emergency meeting of the holy synod
of the church on 20 May, following strong pressure from Georgia s
leading monasteries against further participation in the
international ecumenical movement. The sudden decision of the
synod came as a surprise even to those who had campaigned against
the church s membership of the WCC.

It is the first time that an Orthodox church has taken the
decision to leave the WCC or CEC. The decision of the Georgian
church, according to some observers, will strengthen
anti-ecumenical movements in other Orthodox churches.

According to the Metaphrasis religious news agency, based in
Moscow, the Georgian synod cited the "WCC leadership's
continued efforts to endow the organisation with unified
ecclesiological functions" and the WCC s alleged
"failure to take interests of Orthodox churches fully into
account" as reasons for its decision.

The WCC has more than 330 member churches from around the world,
including the main Anglican, Protestant and Orthodox churches,
but not the Roman Catholic Church.

The Georgian Orthodox Church joined the WCC in 1962. Its present
leader, Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II, has had an outstanding
record as an ecumenical leader, serving as one of the WCC s
presidents from 1979 to 1983.

The emergency synod meeting followed the publication earlier this
month of an open letter to Patriarch Ilia by Archimandrite
Georgi, Father Superior of the influential Shio-Mgvima Monastery,
stating that his monastery was halting "communion with
Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II because of his ecumenical
heresy". Archimandrite Georgi was supported by the leaders
of the other main monasteries in the country and on 19 May, a
group of parish priests called on Patriarch Ilia to withdraw from
the WCC, stating that their communities would follow the lead of
the monasteries and also sever communion with the patriarch.

Patriarch Ilia met the protesting clergy, but the meeting failed
to result in reconciliation.

According to observers, the decision of the synod resulted from a
desire to maintain the unity and integrity of the church. As well
as deciding to withdraw from the WCC, the synod also imposed
sanctions on those who had led the anti-WCC campaign for their
"attempt to split the church". The protesting
clergymen, including Archimandrite Georgi and the leaders of the
other main monasteries, were suspended from celebrating the
eucharist and laymen from taking communion, according to
Metaphrasis.

Georgi Andreadze, one of the leaders of the Dzelevai Orthodox
society in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi told ENI in a
telephone interview that nobody in the Georgian Church, even the
advocates of withdrawal from the WCC, had expected the Synod to
take such a "sudden decision".

Andreadze added that the anti-ecumenical views of the leading
monks had been previously expressed privately but had never taken
such an open and decisive form.

"The very membership in the WCC was perceived as active
participation [in the ecumenical movement] which [was viewed as
becoming] heretical," said Andreadze.

Andreadze told ENI that there was a pro-ecumenical opposition to
the Synod's decision in Georgia, but it had not yet been
expressed officially.

Archimandrite Ioann Sheklashvili, one of the active supporters of
withdrawal told Metaphrasis: "We expected a long struggle,
[and] thought that the Synod would create a special commission
which would slowly consider this issue."

He added: "The Synod's decision was absolutely unexpected
for us and we do not think that this is the best decision in the
current situation."

The concerns most often citied by Orthodox critics of the
international ecumenical movement and the WCC include what they
claim are its vague ecclesiological concepts, and concern about
developments in what they describe as "Western
Protestantism" including the endorsement of women priests,
the revision of Christian views on homosexuality, as well as use
of inclusive language for the Bible.

The Georgian Orthodox Church is one of the world's 15
"autocephalous" (fully canonically independent) Eastern
Orthodox Churches. It dates back to the first half of the fourth
century when Christianity was adopted in Georgia as a state
religion. The vast majority of Georgians identify themselves as
Orthodox. Since the collapse of official Soviet atheism, the
Orthodox Church in Georgia has enjoyed considerable growth, and
is one of the main symbols of the newly independent Georgia.

The Georgian Church has particularly close ties with the Russian
Orthodox Church in which the issue of participation in the
international ecumenical movement is also highly controversial.

At a meeting in Moscow of the Council of Bishops of the Russian
Orthodox Church in February this year, the central leadership of
the church came under strong pressure from many bishops to switch
from full membership to observer status in the WCC. But in the
end, the council agreed a compromise decision to hold
consultations with other Orthodox churches before making any
further moves.

Archpriest Victor Petlyuchenko, deputy chairman of the Moscow
Patriarchate's Department of External Church Relations and one of
the Russian Orthodox Church's senior ecumenical officers told ENI
that the decision of the Georgian Patriarchate was a decision of
an autocephalous Orthodox Church and "thus does not
automatically lead to the withdrawal of other Orthodox
Churches".

Archpriest Petlyuchenko said he did not think that the
monasteries were the initiators of the anti-ecumenical movement,
but believed it had been "provoked by the massive
proselytising activities of various churches, some of which are
our partners in the WCC".

The work of foreign missionaries in traditionally Orthodox parts
of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union has become one of
the most divisive religious issues in the region. Many Orthodox
churches strongly resent any incursions by other religious
organisations into what they see as their own
"canonical" territory, denouncing the practice as
"proselytism".

"People react not to the WCC, but to the proselytising
activity that they confront on a daily basis," Petlyuchenko
told ENI.

According to Metaphrasis, the Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox
Church has sent messages to the headquarters in Geneva of the WCC
and CEC informing the organisations of its decision.

In Geneva a spokesperson for the Conference of European Churches
confirmed to ENI that the organisation had received the letter
from the Georgian Orthodox Church and was awaiting further
clarification.

A spokesperson for the WCC told ENI: "The general secretary
of the World Council of Churches has now received official
notification from the Georgian Orthodox Church of its decision to
leave the World Council of Churches. Becaue of the seriousness of
the situation, the general secretary will make no comment on the
matter before he has reported to the officers of the WCC central
committee at their next meeting. The officers are due to meet in
Geneva 5-6 June." [1149 words]